By KERY MURAKAMI, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Neighbours nightclub, an institution in Capitol Hill and Seattle's gay community, has filed a lawsuit to keep the music going at the club.

In a suit filed in King County Superior Court on Sept. 23, the club's attorney said the owner of the building where Neighbours operates is trying to terminate its lease.

On Aug. 12, Tim Giacometti, representing the building's owners, wrote the club that the owners were terminating the lease, alleging a number of violations.

For instance, the letter said, the lease calls for the club to be used as a tavern, commissary, restaurant, sidewalk cafe, amusement arcade or cabaret.

"The current operation of the premises as a dance club is not a permitted use on behalf of the owners," the letter said.

It also said the club had improved the main floor and basement, and added a stairwell to the basement without notifying the owners.

The club, it said, also had not supplied the owners with a certificate of insurance since 2006. The letter alleges that the club was cited by the state Liquor Control Board in March for allowing liquor to leave the premises, which broke a lease provision that the club comply with the law.

However, Neighbours attorney Mark Kimball on Tuesday denied the club violated the lease. He noted that the club has been a dance club since it opened in 1983. Neighbours, he said, is the longest continually operating dance club in Seattle.

He would not speculate on why the owners are trying to terminate the lease now.

The club's voice mail was full Tuesday afternoon. Both gay and straight people go to the club -- its Web site advertises "lesbian, gay, queer, tranny, all friends and flavors welcome."

But, Kimball said, "Given the fact that it's been an institution within the gay and lesbian community, I'll let you draw your own conclusions" about the impact closing would have.

Michael Wells, board chairman of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, and also a gay man, said: "I think everyone who's passed through Seattle in the last 20 years has gone through there. It's a long-established business in the community. Its clientele is important to the neighborhood.

"And it's important to have a club that's friendly to gays and lesbians. It's an issue we face on the Hill sometimes, having landlords who understand what makes up the neighborhood's identity and what's important to the neighborhood."

The lawsuit asks for damages and for the lease to remain intact. The letter asked the club, which is still open, to leave by Aug. 31.

The club and the building's owners, however, have been in discussions and Kimball said he is confident the dispute could be resolved out of court.